666 
MB. T. J. MANN ON HAWKS. 
I have mine on the lawn, with a wire protection to keep off strange 
dogs, etc. In each corner of tliis square space is a bath, for making 
which nothing is better than the end of a cask cut off about nine 
inches from the end, and sunk level with the grass, bearing in mind 
that Hawks when training should have the opportunity of a bath 
in the forenoon, so that they may prune, and all their feathers be 
dry ere sunset. 
Before concluding, let me thank you for the patient hearing you 
have given to my disjointed paper. In the space of an hour it is 
almost impossible to do more than glance at this grand sport. 
Apart from the well-known Falconers of the present day, I here 
and there see signs of others being “lured” up. Permit me to 
offer them one hint — do not attempt a Peregrine in an enclosed 
country, and do not keep more than a cast of Hawks to begin on, 
for any Hawk must (in the season) be flown frequently to attain 
excellence. I would earnestly beg collectors to be content with one 
specimen of a Peregrine’s egg, and not, as one that I know of, who 
collects numbers, in order to obtain, if possible, all the different shades 
and markings. How and then a trained Hawk will rake away after 
a Wood Pigeon, and be for the time lost, simpl}'^ because it cannot 
see the lure ; but when a keeper, or any one in fact, is able to 
approach -within gunshot of a large Hawk, he may be sure it is 
a trained one, even should he not hear the bell or notice the jesses, 
and therefore he should, if from no higher motive, remember, that 
a Peregrine when dead is worth about five shillings, but that a 
Falconer will gladly give four times that sum even to hear of 
the Falcon if alive. 
In these days when our medical advisers are constantly reminding 
us that our manner of living requires ^‘plenty of open-air exercise," 
and letters are appearing in a leading sporting paper, complaining 
of the great want of a sport which will enable the rising generation 
to obtain this “ xvithoiit danger," Falconry steps forward to fill 
the gap, and with the highest claim to consideration, for he who 
would be a Falconer must perforce consult nature’s demands on 
more than mere physical grounds, as to attain to excellence in 
this, perhaps the oldest sport, calls for the exercise of patience, 
gentleness, and, above all, control of temper. 
